Our annual draft festival of Christmas beers, winter seasonals and choices that strike me as festive now spills into 2008. With Gravity Head slated for February 29, “permanent festival” might be the best way to describe matters at the pub ... and what could be wrong with that?

The third installment of (Your name here)Fest, to be held at NABC, Rich O's and Sportstime, will come in late May, 2008.

The first was DaveFest, named for Dave Siltz, which took place in 2006. In 2007, it was SteveFest, in honor of Steve Hall.

The (Your name here)Fest is a consumer’s choice draft beer fest, with the Publican (that’s me) attempting within reason and various distribution constraints to assemble an annual contest winner’s ideal draft lineup.

As in 2007, there’ll be a month-long essay contest to select the 2008 (Your name here)Fest winner. Naturally, contestants must be 21 years of age. The contest begins immediately, and will conclude on February 1, 2008.

The probably daily regimen can be perused here: Pacific Northwest Brew Tour, May 6 – 14, 2008. Next we'll be pricing the journey. If you're interested and haven't yet contacted me, please do so and you'll be placed on the mailing list.

NABC began brewing in 2002, and we’re proud to be New Albany’s first active brewery since 1935. From very deep within the confines of NABC’s garage brewery, Jesse Williams and Jared Williamson conjure 8-barrel batches of regulars, old favorites and new formulations.

Partials will gradually be returning to the rotation, but there remain Saturnalia beers to tap. We'll not return to business as usual until well into January (thank heavens).

VII. NEW BOTTLED BEER LIST HAS BEEN RELEASED.

The new bottled beer list was effective on Friday, December 7. The vintage collection was been folded into the listings by country, and separate listings have been added for Belgian Lambics and French Bieres de Garde. This will be the last update in the current format. In early February, I hope to inaugurate a new bottled beer list with far more information than the current listing. Read and print the list here: NABC's bottled beer menu .pdf

VIII. CALENDAR OF EVENTS, HOURS AND RELATED FACTS.

General business hours:

Sportstime Pizza opens at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Rich O’s opens at 3:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. We are not open on Sunday except during special events. The same food and beer is available at all times in both rooms, so you may have lunch and a beer in the Sportstime Pizza dining area during those hours when Rich O’s isn’t open. The brewery is available for a look-see if one of us is around and we’re not busy.Smoking.

Rich O's: The front dining rooms at Rich O's are designated as non-smoking areas. The bar area and Red Room are open for smoking (cigarettes, cigars, pipes). We strongly discourage clove cigarettes, which are divisive even among smokers.

Sportstime: Smoking is permitted in the entirety of Sportstime Pizza.

Wi-Fi.

Both dining areas are hotspots. Please observe proper etiquette when using our Wi-Fi service, and do not disturb or offend others with the Anheuser-Busch web site or other examples of web-borne smut.